Legend

2013 Congressional Record on Choice Votes

Pro-choice scores for 2013 are based on the following votes.

Senate Votes

Increased Support for Women's Health-Care Services. FY'14 Senate Budget Resolution, S.Con.Res.8. Shaheen (D-NH) amendment to allow funds to be increased for women's health-care services, such as the Title X family-planning program and the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive-coverage policy. Passed 56-43. A pro-choice vote (+) was in support of the amendment (3/22/13).

Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act. FY'14 Senate Budget Resolution, S.Con.Res.8. Rubio (R-FL) amendment to attach sense-of-the-Senate language to the budget resolution resolving that the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA) should be enacted. CIANA would make it a federal crime for anyone other than a parent to accompany a minor out of state for abortion care if she comes from a state with a strict parental-involvement law. It also imposes an impossibly complex patchwork of parental-involvement laws on women and doctors across the country. Rejected 48-51. A pro-choice (+) vote was against the amendment (3/22/13).

United Nations Family-Planning Program. FY'14 Senate Budget Resolution, S.Con.Res.8. Cruz (R-TX) amendment to allow funds to be stripped from any U.N.-associated program—including the United Nations family-planning program (UNFPA)—if any U.N. member country engages in the practice of forced abortion. With an allusion to China's coercive population policies, the Cruz amendment would have the effect of defunding UNFPA, one of the very programs that has done the most to lift reproductive coercion in China. Rejected 38-61. A pro-choice vote (+) was against the amendment (3/23/13).

House Votes

20-Week Abortion Ban. Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, H.R.1797. Final passage. Franks (R-AZ) bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks nationwide, with no exception to protect a woman's health, or in cases of fetal anomaly, and without an adequate exception in cases of rape or incest. The bill threatens physicians with a five-year prison sentence for violating the ban. Passed 228-196. A prochoice vote (+) was against the bill (6/18/13).

Birth-Control Refusal Law. FY'14 Continuing Resolution, H.J.Res.59. Blackburn (R-TN) amendment to allow any employer, health-plan sponsor, insurance plan, or individual to refuse to cover any women's preventive-health service required under the health-reform law for virtually any reason for a one-year period. Passed 231-192. A pro-choice vote (+) was against the amendment (9/29/13).